Should I Pack Freeze Dried Food Warm Or Cold?

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Should I pack my freeze dried food warm or cold?

 

The temperature of freeze dried food is important. Have you ever wondered why your freeze-dried food turns soggy? I’ve noticed many people facing this issue in online groups and blog comments. I believe the answer lies in a basic understanding of chemistry and biology.

Let me share my theory with a practical demonstration. I’ve set my oven to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a typical temperature for freeze drying. My standard freezer, on the other hand, is around 25 degrees Fahrenheit, well below freezing.

Here’s an interesting experiment I conducted for this video. I placed a jar in the oven for about five minutes, allowing it to reach around 120 degrees – a temperature similar to what food experiences in a freeze dryer. Meanwhile, I also had a jar in the freezer, which I’ve been using to store yeast for months.

Upon removing the jar from the oven, it’s warm but not too hot to handle. It remains dry and clear, just like the food in your freeze-dry trays. However, when I take out the jar from the freezer, ice starts forming on it within seconds. This is crucial – ice represents moisture, which is what you want to avoid in freeze-dried food.

The takeaway is clear: when you remove food from the freeze dryer, it should be warm, not cold. If it’s cold, it’ll attract moisture from the air, leading to soggy food. This isn’t just a theory; it’s a practical demonstration of science at work.

Remember, warm food preserves better. If you’re taking it out cold, you’re unintentionally adding moisture back to your perfectly freeze-dried food. So, always ensure your food is warm when removing it from the freeze dryer.

I hope this helps you in your freeze-drying adventures! I’ve been busy with various food storage projects, like canning, waxing cheese, and preparing freeze-dried apples – a family favorite. Remember, prepping should be enjoyable, not stressful.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. Don’t forget to hit the like and subscribe buttons, and stay tuned for more freeze-drying tips and adventures!

Is Freeze Drying For Me?

Many people think it’s next to impossible to do the freeze drying for themselves. This is far from factual. Freeze drying at home is made easy by Harvest Right. They sell three different sizes of freeze-drying machines that do everything in the machine – except prep and package.

That’s up to you.

For all intents and purposes, here at Freeze Drying Mama we use the medium sized freeze dryer. You can check out the sizes offered at Harvest Right here.

What this machine does is first freeze the items on stainless steel trays to -41 degrees or lower. This takes about 10 hours or so.

Then a vacuum pump turns on and creates a vacuum inside the drum. This is the drying stage and will vacillate the heat of the tray up and down to a pretty warm temperature. This makes the frozen items release any water in them in vapor form. The vacuum sucks the moisture to the drum. This collects in ice form on the inner circle of the drum.

Then there’s the final dry which is essentially the same thing, but with a time associated with it and an end in sight!